My thoughts of the match:
Front-row - scrum was under pressure tonight, got pushed back on own ball a few times and made Clever have to work to get it out cleanly, but fitness was lacking. Biller missed a couple of lineout throws today but still solid. Lineout defense was solid (though I don't know how much can be contributed exactly to front row), and scrum did enough to make it manageable, better than last year. But that fitness is killer. The fact Biller and Pittman are unaffiliated at the moment is probably why they aren't fit.
Grade: C+
Second-row - Stanfill was nothing special tonight, got penalized in the breakdown a couple of times for killing the ball, nothing special with ball in hand today, no turnovers created. Doyle left early, Basauri was quiet as well. But the lineout wasn't so bad. Lackluster performance overall.
Grade: C
Back-row - Real bright spot for the USA today. Clever was fantastic as usual making great tackles, great runs, solid in defense. LaValla made some nice tackles, real good at getting to breakdown, and really added pressure in lineout defense. Quill is impressing after questionable ARC performances, just doing what he needs to do. Solid in support, gets around the park. Overall, back 3 in my opinion was the best unit of the match from either side. Peter Dahl came in for Quinn, did good to stop first lineout drive.
Grade: A-
Forward pack - Overall start to finish was inconsistent. Scrum was under pressure at end but was serviceable through match (hard to say that a year ago). Lineout really put a lot of pressure on Tonga and clearly seemed to be their emphasis of attack. Too many handling errors for me, too many breakdown penalties. Slow in first 30, great from minutes 30-50, average from 50-60, flat in last 20. Forward subs were pretty much a non-factor. Fitness is really lacking though and hurt team in final 20 minutes again. Forwards didn't look to break line late in game and offered no problems to Tonga at the end.
Grade: B-
Scrum-half - Robbie Shaw certainly didn't look as special as last week, did get a try running support right place right time. His kicking was not consistent today, and his decision to kick to me often seemed the wrong one. Shaw also got caught a couple of times with the ball and nothing to do. Petri wasn't on for that long but his first few passes were lacking and was late to breakdown a couple of times. Grade: B-
Fly-half - I thought coming in Tonga would attack him a lot and they did put a ton of pressure on him. Had some bad punts and runs where he got caught alone. Missed a few tackles but that was to be expected. Generaled some nice plays at end of first half and into second half but then again fell off and made questionable decisions.
Grade: B-
Centers - Andrew Suniula had his usual runs of smashing into defenders, but Tonga were ready and able to contain it mostly. Was great in supporting Emerick at end of half and his offload to Shaw after led to only USA try. Emerick was great at end of first half, getting into breakdown, making solid run, and his great offload to Andrew led to their try. Not completely sure why he was subbed off for Roland, I guess they maybe wanted a little more pace but Roland didn't make an impact.
Grade: B
Wings - Luke Hume had a great match, and for me was the USA Back of the Match. Great in attack although he got isolated a few times. Vicious footwork and speed almost got him a couple of tries including great effort at end. In defense made huge tackle on Tonga #1 into touch when overload looked to be on. Dirksen wasn't impressive, but wasn't bad either. I think he might have dropped a kick at some point and had a couple of runs but otherwise don't remember much of him doing anything.
Grade: B+
Fullback - Zach Pangelinan's first test wasn't too bad. He had goalkicking duties today. Missed a sitter in the first half that was disappointing but I believe was 3 from 4 today. Wasn't ever really in attack and don't recall him making many, if any, tackles. The fact that the team was confident to go for the sticks was good. I thought at the time with 4 minutes left (when Tonga got another yellow) he should've taken a shot at 3 to make it a 6 point game. But that is a team decision, not his, and I don't know if his range extended to 45 meters out.
Grade: B
Backs - Really didn't get enough ball in attack. Hume counter-attacking was their best offense but other than that the backline was quiet today. Cornelius Dirksen could've been off the field and nobody would've realized. Tolkin wants the team to play expansive, exploit out wide with backs but you can't do it if ball doesn't make it outside #12. Still eager to see if Ngwenya can squeeze into squad for Romania but I doubt it at this stage. James Paterson would've been nice to have on tour if he was able to make it. Chris Wyles could've made a difference in game decision-wise being a senior player.
Grade: B
As a team, the USA need to work on fitness no doubt. But today we saw bright spots in team attack and for the most part team defense was solid. Two second half tries to Tonga were off of a missed tackle though, and once you make a linebreak it's tough to catch up and stop. We need to finish in attack and score tries when we get to the goal line, we are not good enough to take 3 even if we kept hitting them. Today's game was a great improvement from 44-13? last summer vs. Tonga but I honestly feel the USA should be disappointed to not come away with the win. But they should be encouraged they are heading in right direction and can compete with teams for stretches. Credit must be given to Tonga, once they got their early yellow 4 minutes into second half they really turned around and upped their intensity and imposed themselves into the game again. Tonga truly deserved to win the match and the better team overall won today.
Unfrotuantely USA have no subs outside of Dahl and Basauri that you are comfortable with putting in. No front row subs (Asbun maybe but he's been hurt). The prop replacements were awful in ARC, so not a lot of confidence to throw them in a test match versus a physical Tonga.
Overall match grade: B
